When we had our house built, some wonderful friends allowed us to stay in their "barn" for 3 months. It was not really a barn, we just use to call it that as kids. It was a building that kind of looked like a barn, but was built for recreation. It was rugged and hadn't been stayed in for a long time. We were so thankful for it. But, like I said, it was on the rugged side. We all slept in the upstairs. The first night we were there, I couldn't sleep. I kept hearing mice scurring around the floor. All I could think of was my baby who was sound asleep in a crip near by and my other 3 sleeping close to the floor. In the morning, when Mark took off for work, I laid in bed and carelessly ran my hand across my stomach. Big mistake! Attached to my skin was a tick. Have I mentioned how much I hate mice and ticks????? I FREAKED out. I knew noone could remove it but me. So, I forced myself to touch it and pull it out. Oh, what a horrible memory. Well, since that time, 12 years ago.... I have experienced more ticks then I care to think of as well as mice, raccoons, possums, bats, deer, turkies, spiders (big & harry), and I am sure countless other kinds of bugs and things. Well, I don't freak out anymore. I usually call for Sam or Jacob. They are masters at removing ticks. Once, though, I did go to the doctor to have one removed off my child. Jacob had one attached directly on his eyelid.... right where it meets the eyeball! Ok - I freaked on that one. DIdn't have a clue how to take it off. I've even removed a few with my fingers... after I have failed finding any tweezers. I despise touching the things!! I have to have something between me and the tick.

So, why am I telling you this? This morning, when I was giving the kids a bath, Ri had one attached to his hip. I pointed it out and then ran for tweezers. While I searched the house, Ri giggled and giggled talking quite a bit about a bug. When I finally returned (without tweezers and dreading the deed ahead of me), he was laughing and pointing to a tick crawling on the bathtub wall. He was so proud that he pulled that tick out. And even prouder that it was stuck on him. I couldn't help but laugh at what a whimp I was and how brave he was.

I don't think I was ever able to jump this high. She amazes me!

I love watching her do things with a soccer ball.

Ah mom, do I have to be at this soccer game?

I LOVE this shot. Sam doesn't, he thinks he missed the ball. But if I remember correctly, he made a great save and kicked it out of the box (backwards). It was very cool.

This is our beautiful neice, Lydia. She came to watch Erin play last night.

Sam is running track. We are so proud of his determination and the way he has stuck to it.

Well.. this has to be one of my favorite pictures. Mark loves carrying his babies around. He is such a great father!!

We went on a field trip for preschool. I just thought this was a very cool picture of a lamb. The kids loved seeing the lambs and the llama.


It is definitely spring around here. We have enjoyed a few trips to the creek down the road. The kids just loved wading in it and looking for bugs.


"Cat" is very photogenic. Just thought this was a cool picture.

Things around the Miller home are just as busy as ever. Mark and I have "enjoyed" several soccer games. Last week, we went to games 4 nights in a row. This Saturday, we enjoyed Sam's game, yesterday we went to Erin's game and tonight we go to Jacob's game. Tuesday, Erin plays away (so Mark might be at that one). Wednesday, we have a track meet to watch... but Thursday, we will only have 3 practices :).

On our way home from Erin's game last night, Mark started telling Elizabeth and Ri that they get to play soccer next year. Yikes! I started having a little temper tantrum.. .. screaming and kicking the whole time. :)

Life ..... it gets rather complicated at times. Sometimes, I really wish we lived a century ago when entertainment was sitting on a porch, watching the sun set and enjoying a glass of homeaid lemonade; or was that just a fairy tale I have seen in the movies?

The REST of the story......

If you remember reading the beginning of Jacob's fly story, here is the rest. I have included the entire story for you to enjoy.

To begin, my name is Boz and I am a musca domestica, or a common housefly. I don’t particularly like siblings, I never have. You see I have over 5,000 of them and if I thought I couldn’t get more annoyed at the principal of siblings, I was wrong. It just so happens that the story I am about to tell you proves to anyone the vital importance of a healthy relationship between two brothers, and if you have problems with your brother or sister, you might want to think about solving them, because you definitely don’t want to end up like the twisted family I am about to share with you.
Like I had said earlier, when I was born I already had thousands of siblings. With all of these children and only one mother, I began to feel excluded. I eventually decided to move out of my comfortable middle-class suburban house. I left on my 17th birthday (17 days old) to begin the journey of a lifetime (about 35-days for houseflies). I smiled. It had been a long hard way to spend a childhood, but I was finally free. I was ready to see the world, or as much of it as possible for a fly, with 18 days left in his life-expectancy.
Anyway, I left my home with confidence. I could do anything, and everything. The fact that I was about the size of a peanut, at the near-bottom of the food-chain, considered a pest by most humans, and could be squashed by almost everyone and everything in the world, well, it just didn’t bother me. The adrenaline was pumping, and like I said, I was determined to see the world.
If you’re asking yourself something like, “what is wrong with him, doesn’t he feel any remorse about leaving his family?” Or “there must be a total loss of compassion in his puny body,” you’ve got it all wrong. You see, I had really never met my mother or father. That may sound weird to some, but you have to remember I had thousands of siblings and my parents really couldn’t recognize all of them. Seventeen was around the age that “teenage” flies usually leave the nest. As a matter of fact, most of them had left a long (a day or two) ago. Those flies had already found their mates and left to make their own families. I though, could never find a mate, so I never left.
Remember when I told you that I was determined to see the world? Well, though it may surprise some of you, I actually did have one main goal. What was this goal you ask? It is something so daring that few flies had ever even attempted it, and so dangerous that even fewer had ever come back. I will attempt to land on a human. I know, if you happen to be a human reading this story this may sound like nothing much. But if you are a fly, a bee, a mosquito, or even a butterfly, you know how dangerous this is. First of all humans are big, gigantic really. The ratio of a human’s mass to a fly’s is about 2,000,000 to 1. Also human’s have these gigantic weapons that they call fly-swatters (how disgusting is that?) Anyway, these things have the potential to kill about 50 flies at one time, if they are all grouped together. Besides that they have little holes in them to make them go faster and give the flies less of a warning. So here’s a scenario. A fly is just standing on the wall, minding his own business, when all of a sudden a giant fly-swatter comes and squashes him. Sick isn’t it?
Once I had found an open window, I flew out into the world, leaving my past behind. It was a dark night and I couldn’t’ see too well (by the way flies, although they do have a wide view, have very blurry vision,) but I decided that a good place to start would be the road, so I flew out and hovered a few feet above the street. Suddenly I began to hear strange noises. The sounds were foreign to me, but I guessed that they might be a much larger insect’s form of buzzing. I wasn’t really too scared. I knew I could always fly away from other insects. Soon though, I began to realize that the noise was approaching too quickly to be an another insect. I turned around and saw a massive object with two bright lights shining from it. I decided that now might a good time to fly away. I turned around and started flying full speed. It didn’t help though. That object was just going too fast for me to escape. Within seconds I felt a sudden pain against my side. Then everything went black.
I woke up from my state of unconsciousness a few minutes later. I finally realized where I was. I was on what humans call a car, which is something they use for transportation. I personally think it would be faster just to fly, but humans seem to think differently. The first thing I tried to do was fly, but I realized that that might be a little harder then I thought. You see I had a fractured leg, which was somewhat of a hindrance to my take off. With much struggle though, I actually overcame my disability and launched into the air. I flew as high as I could to find a good view of my location. What I saw chilled my exoskeleton. There was and open are full of grass and seats for humans, but that wasn’t what was incredible. What was incredible was the hundreds of humans, all running, walking, and talking to each other. There were so many that I didn’t doubt I could fulfill my goal right then and there. I had hundreds of options, I just needed to choose one. I just have to say, I made the wrong choice.
I flew in to a group of humans located behind a building and landed on the wall. This is the conversation I heard.
“Jim, you’re such a baby, why did you have to go crying to mom about how I hurt you.”
“Well Cliffe I was under a lot of pain, and you were verbally abusing me in front of all of my friends.”
“Oh, well Nerd, that explains it. You’re just too much of a weakling to take a little joke. Well if that’s the way you see it I can straighten that up.” With that he walked up to his brother and whacked him on the head. “That’s for telling Mom,” he said. He hits him again, “And that’s so you won’t do it again,” he yelled. By that time the younger brother was crying.
“Wait I have an idea” Jim cried out in desperation. “What if we have a competition, to see who can swat a fly first., if I win, I can tell mom. But if you win, I‘ll be quiet.”
“O.K.” Cliffe said. “But we start now.” With that he started running to find a fly.
Now I don’t want to insult my race, but flies aren’t the brightest creatures, and I realize until too late that my life could possibly be in danger. I was about to be rudely awakened. Within seconds both Jim and Cliffe spotted me, and all of a sudden it was a clumsy race towards me. I knew what I had to do. I had to put them back into their fight. I could only do this one way.
I was about to fulfill my goal.
Without thinking, I landed on Cliffe‘s head. Jim noticed me and took a whack, but I easily dodged it, (did I mention flies had great reflexes?) Unfortunately ( for Jim and Cliffe) the hit land directly on Cliffe’s forehead. While I was flying away I took one look back to see what would happen.
“All right twerp, I don’t care what Mom says, you are going down,” and with that Cliffe and Jim reentered their fight, and they fought hard. I can’t give the details because I flew away. Hmm… I thought to myself. How could a fly be so scared of a human? They call us a lesser being.
If you’re a human and you’re reading this, I leave you with one simple thought. You fight, you kill, you worry about wealth, you fight with your siblings, and then you call flies lesser beings. I think you need to examine yourselves a little more before you come to these conclusions, hypocrites. Flies may only live for 35 days but we live so much more than humans. Now, chew on that!

Soccer season is in full swing. Mark and I have attended 3 soccer games in 3 nights. Erin, Sam and then Jacob. We have a track meet tonight as well. We enjoy every minute of it, though that many nights in a row tends to be wearing. Erin is enjoying playing on the U19 team. Her coach is the MNVU womens soccer coach. He coaches a spring team for area kids. Sam has really stepped up and is becoming quite the player. Last night, he made a beautiful assist and then headed the ball in for a goal. It was very cool. Jacob has also become quite the defender. We watched him in his game the other night and he amazed us all!

We finally went back to preshool last week. Elizabeth actually went onthe playground without me. Yeah. We are making progress.

Well, for those of you who have seen/heard/read about John Freshwater and his stand not to remove the bible from his desk..... the tides have turned. This is such a difficult post for me. I shared how the story that was public information. Yesterday, the school board met in an executive meeting. They released their accusations towards him stating that the bible is not the issue. In face, it was not brought up again. Evidently, they are not addressing that anymore. The shift is now on John's character and his following rules.

For me, I know much of the story that has lead up to all of this. I have watched it unravel. I praise God that John made a stand and that in his stand, he did not criticize the school board nor did he cut down any of the members of the board or superintendent. He said this was not about them. He said it was about his right to have a bible on his desk. That was all. He didn't interview, answer questions, or go in detail to the events that lead up to this. He mentioned that they were honorable men and women. But his stand did reflect on the School Board despite anything he said about them. The heat was on and it was intense.

I ask that you would pray for John as his character and his reputation as a teacher is being destroyed. I ask that you cover him in prayer. The accusations all center around his faith. For those who have read/heard that he burns crosses on children's arms... he does not. I asked Sam of the hands on experiment he does with the kids. It is purely voluntary and the kids LOVE it. It does happen that the mark that is left on the child's arm can look like a cross simply because he runs the instrument down their arm one way and then when they want it done again, he goes the other way.

For me, this reminds me of Daniel. Yesterday, John was thrown in the Lions Den. Please pray for Mount Vernon as well.

Tis that time of year again!

It is exciting to see the community surrounding John and his stand. Here are 2 signs we saw just on the way to church.





Personally, I agree with the first sign. I think the line they chose to draw was a mistake. When it comes to faith, the school board seems threatened by it and bristles their back and makes a loud statement that they will not tolerate it. I have faced them twice this year and have experienced it first hand.

Kids quietly support Mr. Freshwater

I took the kids in early this morning because they all wanted to go to FCA. Emily was not feeling well enough to get up early, so I decided to take them in. When we got there, kids were just beginning to arrive. I dropped off Erin and a friend then went to park. Sam and Jacob got out whie I got the little ones dressed. I looked up and saw a very neat site. Walkign from the high school to the middle school was the High School FCA students. All were dressed in shirts showing support of Mr. Freshwater's stand. All were carrying bibles. They marched 2-3 in a row and quietly gathered near the flag pole by the entrance. They students all held hands and prayed...one by one. It was a precious site. I passed them and went in to look for the Middle School FCA meeting. As I walked in, a middle school boy was standing with a sign saying I Support Mr. Freshwater as he held his bible in the air. There were students standing outside with white T-shirts with hand drawn crosses stating "I support Fresh H20". Interesting enough, one of the kids was a board members son (at least it sure looked like him). I talked with a couple of people and then headed outside again. A young lady stopped me and asked me to sign a poster she had made for Mr. Freshwater. I did. When I went outside, the highschoolers were still praying. The little ones and I quietly sat down beside them and prayed with them. I have to admit, it was an incredible moment. As the kids ended their prayer, Sara Freshwater lead them in singing a very simple childs song... it goes like this:

The B I B L E, yes that's the book for me, I stand upon the Word of God, the B I B L E.

Now.. how neat is that? May you continue to lift up all those involved. Thanks.

Teacher refuses to remove bible from his desk

Wow - before I begin, I would ask that for those of you who are believers in Jesus Christ - PRAY. Pray for John Freshwater, Steve Short, Ian Watson, and Bill WHite. John is an 8th grade science teacher in our school system who has been asked to remove his bible from the view of his students. He has placed it on his desk for the past 21 years.... EVERYDAY. It is a part of who he is. He doesn't place it there to say anything, it is just a habit. He reads his bible privately, on lunch hour or during his non-working time. Steve Short is the Superintendent of our school systems. Ian Watson is president of our School Board, and Bill White is the principal of our Middle School. Both Steve and Bill are new this year. These are the men who have requested that he remove his Bible due to a parent complaining about it.

I would also ask that you pray for the students of Mt. Vernon Senior High and Middle School who are making a stand today. On Wednesday, John held a press conference stating that he would not comply to removing his bible from his desk. He was also asked to remove the 10 commandments that he had on his wall in a collage. He was given on week to comply to both requests. He has complied with removing anything in his room that had reference to the bible, but he refuses to comply with removing his own, personal bible from his desk. Today, there has been a call out to all christian students as well as any student in support of Mr. Freshwater, to bring their bibles to school and place them on their desks during every period. They are also wearing t-shirts that have a Christian theme.

Here is a picture of 4 of the 7 kids at our home who have chosen to stand for Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and stand behind Mr. Freshwater's stand.




Each of the kids chose a bible verse and/or phrase that they felt was appropriate:







Mr. Freshwater has made a courageous stand to not compromise where the Bible is concerned. His call has stirred up the fire in many Christians in our community, as well as caused a stir among those who are against the Bible in schools. The story has gone state-wide and a venture to say throughout the country. If it has not hit the United States by way of television, it has certainly covered its way through the internet. John shared with me yesterday that he recieved a call from someone from Canada who had searched hard to be able to contact him with a word of support! While Sam was in the John's class, the phone rang. Sam was asked to answer it. The phone caller wanted to know how he could place a complaint against the Superintendent for what Sam's teacher had been asked to do. These just give you a small flavor of what is going on.

I have much to say, but for now, I will just pray and watch. GOd is at work in a small town community. Please pray that He will be glorified through it all.

Enjoying the Springtime weather

God's mercy and provision

Just thought you might want to see "Cat" out of Ri's hands. See.. she really does survive the "love" they give her.

The kids love the trampoline


Wow- have you checked out the bar to the left and seen Sam and Jacob's tickers rising? God has been so merciful and gracious in his provision to the boys. I asked Jacob if he is learning anything as he watches it increase weekly. His answer was a resonding yes! I asked him what he has learned. He told me this "That every penny counts and every penny adds up".

You see, in the beginning, Jacob was so discouraged when his sister offered him $5.00/week if he cleaned out her car everyday. Our little mathmetician first stopped and figured it all out in his head. His thought was simply that it was less then a dollar a day. He felt the work was too hard for such "little" pay. Mark and I jumped all over him. He is so accustomed to being paid so generously from his Mamaw for very little work that when he actually was going to have to work hard for a small amount, it didn't seem worth it to him.

Then we reminded him of a few verses from the Bible. THe one that came to our mind first was this:
The Widow's Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[j]worth only a fraction of a penny.[k]
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

You see, Emily wanted to help Jacob. For her, $5.00/week was a ton of money. It crushed Mark and I to see his response, at the same time, we were blessed by Emily's willingness to sacrifice and help her brother.

It took Jacob a while to understand. He saw $2295.00 as a mountain so steep that it would be impossible to climb. He compared the $5.00 to the $2295.00 he needed and felt nothing but an impossible task.

But... as time passed, Jacob began to understand how every penny counted. He began to be willing to do any job for whatever the pay was. He got excited about earning even just a couple of dollars. As he hs watched the ticker, he has realized that pennies add up. He has learned that it doesn't matter what the pay is, that God will provide...even if it is a "widow's mite". He is sincerely as thankful for the mite as he is for "overpay" of his grandparents! It has been neat to watch him with the concession stand. When I shared with him the amount the first day ($27.00), I was expecting him to moan... but NO! He was ecstatic. And when he worked, he was diligent, did not whine, but worked hard. Last week, he had to work the concession all by himself. I was on one field and he was at another field all together. Sam was suppose to work my concession stand, but the YMCA was short referrees, so SAm filled in. THat meant I could not help Jacob. I expected him to be unsure and nervous and really beg for me to be with him. But no! He stepped up to the plate and did it all himself. In the end, we only brought in $94.00 (2 stands - and we still haven't gotten out of the red).... I expected complete disappointment from Jacob. But.. he surprised me and lit up with excitement. Yes, I do believe that our son is finally understanding the truth in what is meant by saving every penny. He also is beginning to understand how hard work pays off. Better yet, he is learning what hard work is.

So, I praise God for what he is doing in our son's lives. Sam is just as excited. He is taking every opportunity he has to earn money. He has the opportunity to ref a traveling game and then reffed all day at the Y. He is reffing Erin's game tonight and then possibly a game on Saturday (as well as the Y). He is getting closer and closer to his goal. We will have to buy the ticket this week or next, so we will know a little more on what he needs to really bring in.

Saturday, the boys received an incredible gift in the mail. A precious family that we have come to know through the adoption of Elizbeth sent an encouraging note to the boys. Jacob opened it up and read the note and then opened the check that they had sent to the boys. He just about fell over. I won't share the amount, but the gift was far beyond generous. The boys both jumped up and squealed and then just look at me in awe. I reminded them that God is at work and this gift was truly from the Hand of God. We were blessed (and blown away) by the love that they have for the boys and for us.

The journey that God has taken us on through the adoption of our children continues to amaze us. We have developed friendships that are so deep with families that we have only actually spent time with for 2 & 3 weeks. But despite the short amount of time we have ever been together, the bond is deep and unbreakable. It amazes me, the love we all have for each other. I praise God for that special friendship and gift.

We've had some beautiful spring days lately. The kids and i took advantage of them and went for several walks. They LOVE looking for bugs and salamanders. They turn over everything possible to see what bugs are under it. We found some pretty cool looking ones (some I didn't want to touch! - but that did not stop them from begging to hold it). On the way home from our walk, Elizabeth was going through a list of things for me to "remember". She would say "mom, "member" the bug with lots of legs?" or "mom, "member" heavens and earth?" (we are memorizing the first verse of the bible: "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and Earth". Well.. as usual,. Ri had to jump in the the "member" comments. He pipes up this: "member, I love Jesus?". It was adorable!!!

Along that same line, Elizabeth saw some cracks in the sidewalk (just where the blocks separate) and noticed that it looked like a cross. She stops me and points down and says "Jesus died on the cross". Very cool!!! (but.. .in her little mind, she was convinced it was that cross).

Last night was a precious night for me. Clay and Renee Cross were at a church just 32 minutes from our home! I asked Mark if he would mind if I went to see them. They have a wonderful ministry called Holy Homes. Clay sings for a little bit before they give a talk on how to make your home a holy home. I have not seen them since we separated in China when we adopted Elizabeth. They have become very precious to me. There is special bond between Renee and I; maybe because we have experienced the adoption of 2 of our children at the same time, first our girls shared the same orphanage and then we both adopted sons. They actually were leaving China with their 7 year old son the day we were arriving in China to bring Ri home.

Anyways, last night, Emily, Elizabeth nd Ri and I went to the church. We had a cherished time of reunion before Clay performed. It was a long time, but precious none the less. We then got to hear Clay sing and then listen to both Clay and Renee share their testimony and what God has done in their life. It was a wonderful evening. As we said our goodbyes, Ri went right up to Renee and gave her a hug. Then we told him to give Clay one. Clay was in the middle of talking with someone and Ri went straight up to him and held on to his leg. It was very, very sweet. THen after Clay hugged him, Ri headed to the guy who Clay was talking to and grabbed onto his leg as well. Too cute.